Capitols and Capitals:
The State’s Odyssey from
Detroit to Lansing
by Valerie R. Marvin, Michigan Capitol Historian
Thursday, November 29,
2018 – 7:00 p.m.
Library of Michigan
702 W. Kalamazoo Street,
Lansing
Join
Valerie Marvin, Michigan Capitol Historian, as she discusses how Michigan’s
three state capitals came to be.
Michigan’s
current capitol, the state’s third, opened to great acclaim on January 1, 1879.
Students of Michigan history, however, know that the road to that day was a
long and winding one.
When
Michigan declared herself a state in 1835, Detroit served as the seat of
government. The city’s hold on the capital was tenuous at best as the 1835
constitution stated that a permanent seat of government had to be established
by 1847. The battle to choose the permanent site took place in the state’s first
capitol building, a two-story brick Federal style structure with a thin,
steeple-like central tower built 1823-1828. Here legislators from across
Michigan voted on dozens of proposed sites before finally compromising on rural
Lansing Township—then-home to only eight voters.
Moving
the seat of government meant that the state would need to construct a new
capitol building. Hastily erected in the last months of 1847, the wooden
structure was always intended to be temporary. Poor economic conditions and the
Civil War ultimately extended its use 30 years, during which time everyone in
government complained about its cramped quarters, poor ventilation, and the
ever-present threat of fire. Finally, in 1871, Governor Henry P. Baldwin called
for the construction of a third capitol and challenged the legislature to
appropriate money for the project, which was soon underway.
From 1872
to 1878, Lansing residents watched eagerly as the new state capitol began to
rise up. Crafted of brick, sandstone, and cast and wrought iron, Michigan’s new
building clearly echoed the appearance of the newly enlarged national capitol
in Washington D.C., a sign of the state’s loyalty to the Union. When it opened
on January 1, 1879, eager citizens poured in from across the state to visit the
state’s new treasure, confident that Michigan finally had a dignified capitol
that would stand for the ages.
